“Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler.”—Prophet Muhammad

When I came to Kohtla-Järve (=KJ) on the 26th of June, I did not have friends or connections in this town. I only knew the name of the real estate broker whom I found on the internet. And he let me down for my first night.

I wanted to roam in Estonia because I wanted to follow my thoughts. In essence, I did not want to be saying this in my later years in life: “I’ve never done a single thing I’ve wanted to in my whole life!” As Sinclair Lewis have it say Babbit.

KJ is my favourite town in Estonia. I love it so much. I have met some of the best people in this country. As I leave tomorrow, I will leave my heart here. Until I come back, I say goodbye to my friends and KJ!

So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.― Christopher McCandless

Life is university. It is the best university on earth. An observant eye has a lot to learn from the country he or she roams. The roamer remembers all that comes to his way and documents, and shares. A real roamer relies on him/herself. S/he does not need a travel guide. S/he finds his or her way and explores valuable and interesting places which are not on the travel advertisement.

I stayed in Tallinn for a few hours in 2012 and I knew most key areas in the city, including alleyways. I walked for hours and met dozens of people, most of them were females!

Conclusion: Neither university degrees nor books can take the place of roaming experiences.

Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.— Rumi

He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear. —EMERSON

“How can you roam on your own?” Some people asked me when I was leaving for Estonia.

And when I arrived in Estonia, the local females asked me “what are you doing here? People are cold and quiet.”

They saw something different. And I saw something utterly different. I did not let these comments discourage me. I had my own ideas and I had to live with them.

It takes courage to follow one’s own ideas while the world denounce them. It takes courage to find our own path and not to settle on the conventional ideas. It takes courage to be different in a world where imitation is everything. It takes courage to persist in eating more than our digestion will tolerate. It takes courage to initiate a conversation with Northern European people. It takes courage to be professional at living. It takes courage to roam on our own and observe the habits of the natives.

In winter, it is bitter cold in Estonia! People wear more warm clothes. They become less social and spend most of their waking hours in doors —home or workplace.

Trees and plants get naked! They lose their leaves in preparation for spring. They change unlike humans. They attain new and cleaner leaves. They start from zero again.

On the other hand, people solely change their clothes. As it gets warmer, female skirts go above the knees. Men wear t–shirts and so on. Nevertheless, they do not change their thoughts of the past and that affects their future plans.

View from The Platform in TallinnKohtla-Järve

Lesson: it is to learn to get naked, that is to say, it is clean the old thoughts of the past season of our minds in order to receive new and useful ones for the upcoming season. If we manage to change our thoughts the way we change our clothes, in accordance with the season of the year, we will then grow and be capable of dealing with the present and the future!

The tongue! It is the instrument of eloquence, kindness, worship, and beauty!

And what is the worst instrument in the human body?

It is the tongue. It is the instrument of lying, cursing, slander, and backbiting.

Masters of tongues are the poets, storytellers, preachers and philosophers. If they take care of their tongues, they change cultures!

Imam Ghazali was more eloquent and influential than all the Arab leaders in 11th and 12th centuries; Tolstoy was more important than the Tsar; Emerson and Thoreau were more humane and credible than American presidents in the 19th century; Tammsaare is a giant literary figure in Estonia; Bishop Desmond Tutu is more powerful than all the politicians in Africa.

These men have not had arms and weapons or countries to lead, they’ve had sharp tongues!

Therefore, it is a wise idea to guide our tongue if we want to gain the upper–hand. It means to be clear. It means to be concise. Above all, it means to be kind.

Anger is one of the human emotions. We have it for a good reason and to the contrary of the conventional belief which teaches us implicitly or explicitly that we should get angry whenever we encounter a repugnant event.

Know the five causes of anger: pride, vanity, mockery, fault-finding and blame, and greed.

To get angry is a good sign that we have not yet mastered ourselves! It is because we are still strangers to ourselves.

It is human to be angry. Nevertheless, it is immature to let events control our emotion. How many people utter something hurtful to their loved ones out of anger? How many relationships or opportunity have been lost because of anger?

Anger differentiates the inexperienced from the master. The ability to control our anger is the beginning of self–mastery. Anger-control is a tact we can all learn. Forbearance is the first step of self-mastery. Few people who have achieved self–mastery, overcame their anger both in private and public. Thus, they have led a peaceful lifestyle.

When a loved one or a friend or a customer show impertinent towards us, we must remain in a strong, calm, undisturbed, quiet, non-reactionary and polite position. In other words, we must never lose the control of our emotion.

Meanwhile, if we cannot control our anger, we must learn to control our tongues. We may say something we later regret.

When I came to Estonia at the end of June 2017 I had no friends, connections or a job here. I wanted to declare my personal independence from the celebrity culture which was sweeping in England. I wanted live in my life and to live deep. I wanted to develop sublime courage and faith in myself. I wanted to get closer to nature (51% forest, 1500 islands, lakes, bogs) and focus on the importance of life. Moreover, I wanted to get to know the human hearts by myself. I was not content with the vocabulary and ideas of writers who didn’t talk to people and yet talk about them! I wanted to trust my experience.

“Roaming is the easiest part, just wandering around, looking the places, imagining how people lived there at that time, breathing deeply the open air around there and feeling the best.” ― Shaikh Ashraf,

I have roamed across Estonia and remembered Mohamed Al–idrisi, who was the first roamer in Tallinn in 1154. I’ve visited the ruins, manors and fortresses where wars had been waged in other centuries. I’ve stood in front of medieval buildings and imagined the lives of those before me! I’ve walked the alleyways and saw the imagination of Estonian forefathers. I’ve climbed the high platform in Tallinn to view the medieval city.I’ve been to historical places and stared at the statues of giants of this nation. I went to the forest and walked in nature.

I’ve come to the conclusion that we remember people who left something universal and worthwhile behind: art, books, buildings and music.